//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - Let's Talk // Story: From Grass to Bedrock // by Animatorsnake //------------------------------// Earlier – Equestria, Everfree Forest; Afternoon The girls traveled down the path behind Fluttershy’s cottage, with Twilight in the lead with Applejack, Rainbow was slightly above them but not ahead of them, behind them was Pinkie with Rarity and Fluttershy in the rear. “We should be at Zecora’s in half an hour, I just hope she has the girls at her place,” said Twilight. “Don’t scare me like that Twi,” said Applejack. “Sorry...” Twilight knew she shouldn’t say stuff like that, but the Everfree was no joke, to be honest sometimes she thinks how did herself and her friends manage to survive in this deadly forest each time they have to come through her. There were dozens of close calls for all of them… she could never imagine her life without any of her friends. Rainbow was flapping her wings, that everypony noticed, they could tell that their brash friend was ready to just burst forth to find the girls. Before anypony could say anything to ease her worries, a sudden plume of fire and smoke could be seen ahead of the path. “What in the-” “Its the girls! IMMA COMING SCOOTALOO!” shouted Rainbow. With a loud flap, Rainbow zoomed ahead of her friends toward where she spotted the sudden burst of flames. Everypony was shocked until they soon chased after their friend; Rainbow had dozens of thoughts going through her head, and just as fast she could reach Canterlot from Ponyville, these thoughts zoomed by with one single thought dominant in her mind. PLEASE BE FINE! PLEASE BE FINE! PLEASE BE FINE! Rainbow’s worry vanish after seeing Scootaloo and her friends safe and sound… who were also with some strange bipedal thing. It looked like minotaur but was way taller than a minotaur, furless, didn’t had any hooves for legs, and wore clothes. The thought of thinking the thing with the girls was alright, was overruled by her need to protect. Many would say Rainbow can be a tad brash when making decisions, but her loyalty to her friends and family was strong… so she sort of went into tunnel vision when she saw Scootaloo, her favorite fan, close to some sort of weird creature. With a battlecry and going as close to Mach 1, Rainbow slammed into the creature with both forehooves stretched forward, sending it flying right into a tree, watching it slide to the ground until landing face first. “YEAH! Take that you… whatever you are!” “Rainbow, what are you doing here!?” asked Scootaloo. Scootaloo was the only one focused on her idol while Sweetie and Applebloom were a bit worried about Steve, who was still face first on the ground. “You okay squirt, what the heck is that thing? I’ve never seen anything like that before!” “Oh that’s Steve- OH MY GOODNESSS STEVE! YOU ALRIGHT!?” The three girls quickly rushed up to the Crafter, at that moment the rest of the Mane 6 arrived, first they spotted Rainbow with a confused look until they spotted what she was looking at. “My goodness, what happened to that poor thing,” said Fluttershy. “Uhhhm, my bad, I might have went and slammed into him without thinking,” said Rainbow, with a sheepish smile. “Never mind him, where’s Swee- DEAR CELESTIA, THOSE CLOTHES ARE HORRENDOUS!” Everypony raised their brows at their fashionista friend, while everypony else was trying to figure out what happened, Steve finally woke up with a shake of his head, he spotted the six new mares and the three fillies worried around him. “Mr Steve, you okay?” asked Sweetie. Steve managed to stand up, nodding his head to placate the fillies’ worries. “Oh, that’s good, I’m surprised you got knocked out by Rainbow, usually anypony hit from her at that speed usually doesn’t wake up for awhile.” I had to deal with walking tnt mobs called Creepers that can launch me two to five blocks away, a hit like that isn’t that bad… well, maybe a little, I have three and a half hearts left. Seeing that Rainbow’s charge was enough to do that much damage was a bit worrying, good thing he had his healing potions. Reaching into his inventory, he pulled out one of said healing potions, and drank every last drop. Soon his hearts all coming back to full health; now with an empty bottle, he put that away until his focus went back to the six mares. I assume one of them are the guardians of these three… the one with the hat and the fancy manes might be related to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. Twilight soon noticed the strange creature with the girls were looking at them, getting the rest of her friends attention they soon stared at Steve. “Uhhhh, hello, I assume you were with my friends’ sisters? Mr?” “His name is Steve, he can’t talk,” said Sweetie. “He’s mute,” said Scootaloo bluntly. “But he’s really nice though,” said Applebloom, finishing last. They weren’t sure how to take these news, not only were the girls safe, but they met with some strange creature too. “Wait, if he’s mute, how were you able to communicate with him?” Ah, time for me to shine now. Steve brought his journal out, writing down a quick line and showing to the six mares. “Like this, by the way, might I ask for your names?” “Oh right sorry; my name is Twilight Sparkle. The one wearing the stetson is my friend Applejack, she’s Applebloom’s big sister. The one with the rainbow mane is Rainbow Dash, that one is Sweetie Belle’s older sister, Rarity, behind her is Fluttershy, she’s a little shy, and finally-” “MY NAME IS PINKIE PIE, NICE TO MEET YOU!” shouted Pinkie. BY THE OVERWORLD WHERE DID SHE COME FROM!? Steve backed up in surprised before shaking Pinkie’s right leg, soon Pinkie was brought back with Twilight’s magic – or to Steve, a weird purple glow around Pinkie. “Sorry, she can doesn’t know personal space… she can a bit overwhelming, but you get used to it.” “Right… I assume you are all here because of these three, they were lucky I came along, were being attacked by a pack of those Timberwolf things.” “WHAT!?” Rarity and Applejack both screamed at the same time, Rainbow was about to say something, but everypony immediately knew what she would say. She immediately closed her mouth before trying to give Scootaloo a stern look. “What were you thinking Scoots, don’t do something dangerous like that…” said Rainbow, leaning toward Scootaloo. “Especially when I’m not around.” Rainbow whispered that last part, but the others heard or guessed what she said to her little sister figure. Steve found this interaction kind of sweet, he didn’t had any older or younger siblings before, so seeing others like this was kind of cool. ...Now I’m sad I don’t have any blood relatives. “Again, thank you for saving the girls, but… who or what exactly are you?” asked Twilight. Before Steve could explain, he noticed a floating notepad near Twilight, it had the same glow he seen that surrounded Pinkie Pie. Ignoring the floating object, Steve wrote down that he was something called a Crafter, he came from somewhere faraway – he didn’t want to explain the idea of him coming from another world – and he somehow ended up in this strange forest, which he was being told was called, the Everfree Forest. “Well, we can continue this later, we should head back to Ponyville before it gets dark.” After that, soon everypony and their newest acquaintance followed the path back to Ponyville. Nobody spoke, but Twilight definitely had more questions, and the CMC wanted to hang out with Steve some more. Rainbow was sorry about her earlier action, but Rarity and Applejack were a bit unsure about this mysterious creature, Pinkie was Pinkie… but Fluttershy was the one pony Steve was interested on… well it was because, every so often the mare would look at him before continuing to look forward… or shyly gaze on the ground. I wonder what’s wrong with her? She’s been gazing back at me every so often, but she hasn’t said why she’s doing so. Soon they managed to leave the forest and arrived at Fluttershy’s backyard, which was simply a wide area for her animals to roam, the only area that was fenced was her chicken coop. “Um… I’m going to check on my animals, I’ll see you girls later,” said Fluttershy, swiftly heading back inside. Deciding that it was getting late, everypony else was going head back to their own homes too; Rainbow would bring Scootaloo back to her place, Applejack and Rarity were going to bring their sisters back to their respective homes, while Pinkie left to plan Steve’s welcome party later. This left only Twilight and Steve, the two were heading back to Twilight’s place. Even though it was just the afternoon recently, time seemed to wait by quickly as the sun was already setting, and the slight glimmer of the moon could be sighted. Not a lot of ponies were outside, but those that were who saw Steve had mixed feelings; due to Steve looking a lot like a minotaur, many didn’t panic, however, the somewhat cautious gaze could be visibly seen on many ponies. Hope he won’t feel hurt from how their looking at him. Checking on her future house guest, she noticed Steve didn’t paid attention to any bystanders but the coming night sky, particularly the slowly descending sun. “Is something wrong Mr Steve?” asked Twilight. Steve looked at Twilight, but gave a reassuring wave. “Please, call me Steve… and… well, I’m afraid of the dark.” It was a strange thing for Steve to mention, but Twilight just assumed it was due to waking up in the Everfree Forest, that place can be pretty dark. “Don’t worry, not every place that’s pitch black isn’t as bad as the Everfree, I know a certain princess who can tell you that there’s nothing to be afraid of the night.” The night? Well, I’m not afraid of the night, there can be as much dangers in the morning or under the sun, the night can be quite beautiful… no… The darkness is not something you should joke about, but something you should be wary of. While Steve didn’t seem to say anything or write anything to Twilight, the grim look on his face was enough to tell her that whatever Steve thought of was serious. The two soon approached Twilight’s home, when Steve first saw it, he was quite impressed, even the many creations he made, he never imagined using a tree as a home… though most the trees he knows of are either one or two blocks thick… not that spacious enough to make a home inside, maybe on top, but never the interior. Entering inside, Twilight seemed to call for somebody, but Steve was more interested by his surroundings than whom Twilight was calling for. Her tree-home, was filled with books, it was clear that either Twilight was an avid reader or a librarian… or both. Hearing somebody coming downstairs, Steve spotted… well another interesting creature; it stood on two claw-like feet, was made of green and purple scales, was as big as the little ponies from before, and from what he can tell it was definitely a boy. “Oh hey Twi… uhhhh, who is that?” “Oh, this here is Steve; Steve, I like you to meet my assistant, Spike.” Spike approached Steve, extending his own claw toward the quite tall Crafter. “Hey, nice ta meet you Steve,” said Spike, smiling. Steve shook Spike’s claw and after quickly explaining he can’t speak, the two decided to converse a bit while Twilight went upstairs to handle some quick business. “So, where do you come from Steve?” “Well, instead of answering question by question, let me explain some things you might want to know about me. As Twilight explained, my name is Steve, I am a Crafter and I come from somewhere really faraway, it best I explain this when Twilight comes back. I enjoy exploring, creating anything from anything, food, riding my-” Steve paused, he was speaking to what was technically a lizard – or dragon as Spike explained about himself – and there was also talking ponies which were close to horses… it be a bit weird if Steve said he rode a horse. Quickly, Steve rewritten that part, to better fit what he was trying to explain earlier. “Traveling with my companion, Strider, and sometimes other companions, I also do love seeing and finding anything I find new and unfamiliar. My favorite colors are lime green, yellow, and light blue; I love mining underground, especially when find iron, gold or diamonds, oh and… … well, that’s about it.” Spike was pretty amazed, the things Steve said made it sound like he did more than simple life, but journeyed across the world and over again and again. “Your life sounds amazing! Like one of my comics!” Steve found Spike’s excitement a nice thing to see… but his life was dangerous too, strife with deadly creatures, unpredictable biomes, dangerous weather, and sometimes… fear of the unknown was the greatest threat. Something new always appeared and Steve would have to go through trial and error to see what sort of limits and capabilities this new oddity had… this also involved the numerous deaths he went through. Him appearing in this new world can be considered an oddity, but this time he would have to wary of everything, no matter the situation. At that moment, Twilight came back down with a floating scroll beside her… that and several other more notepads, inks, and ink pens. “Spike, can you send this to the princess, I want to tell her of Steve’s arrival, it should be important that she’s informed of what could be first contact with a new race.” Spike saluted, and to Steve surprise, the dragon blew a flume of green flames that engulfed the scroll with the ash floating off and out an open window. After some explaining of Spike being able to send messages through his flames, Twilight began her version of a conversation with Steve – recording every last detail. Steve was obliged to inform Twilight, but before they could get any further – Twilight was writing down Steve’s race, and the many oddities of his strange form – Steve finally told both her and Spike, about where and what exactly caused his appearance in the Everfree Foreest. Some long explanations and note-taking later – Equestria, Ponyville; Golden Oaks Library; Evening “So… you are from another world, when some strange portal sucked you in and brought you to ours, plopping down in the Everfree Forest. Not only that, but back in your world, you are the only one of your kind, and surrounded by strange beings called Villagers, and all manner of deadly creatures… but not a single one of the creatures in your world can speak and make various different noises. Not to mention that you have strange abilities that allow to manipulate the properties of your world, that you can literally warp the rules of reality itself...” said Twilight. Steve nodded with a shrug, both his listeners were in a mix of shock, but Spike was the first to get out of his own stupor. “Well.. I can believe that.” “THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE! EVERYTHING HAS RULES, WHETHER IT BE USING MAGIC, THE LAWS OF GRAVITY, OR TRAVELING FROM FAR DISTANCES! The amount of energy that had to be used to come from your world to ours – nevertheless, the amount of energy to allow you to travel to other worlds – would be beyond any form of energy source that can be used in our world, and from what I can understand you don’t have the capabilities to do anything of what I just explained! YOU EITHER HAVE TO BE LYING OR DELUSIONAL!” Steve felt insulted by this comment, and deciding to declare his abilities, he quickly looked around and did something that would be rude of him but necessary to prove his point. “Steve I’m sorry that I don’t believe you but- Wait, what are you do-” Steve began to punch a chunk of the room’s ceiling off; the yelling from Twilight and astonishment of Spike were stopped after Steve’s actions. Instead of the ceiling collapsing or bits of wood dust to falll… but there was a perfectly one by one by one meter cut cube hole on the ceiling of Twilight’s home… and that block Steve took was magically floating on his right palm. Words weren’t needed for Steve to say anything, actions spoke louder than words; Twilight slowly examined the cube of wood floating and calmly spinning on Steve’s palm. Before she could touch it, Steve calmly slapped the oak wood back into the place he took it from, soon it morphed back easily, showing no signs of it being removed at the slightest. “...You have to show me more.” Steve smiled, he might enjoy being in this strange unknown world a bit longer than planned.